Ditch-digging machine.



G. H. GREIMANN. D'IT APPLICATION FLEI) MAY 1, 1913.

CH DIGGING MACHINE.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

Nb mw G. GREIMANN.

DITGH DIGGING MACHINE.

I APPLICATION FILED MAY 1. 1913 1,085,035. Patented Jan, 20, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wwur

y @Q M G. H. GRH-MANN. DITGH DIGGING MACHINE.

- APPLICATION FILED MAY l, 1913, 1,085,035. Patented Jan.20,1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEBT 3.

5mm/nto@ G.H. G HEI/WANN 0b. J. M

'entren srarns grafrnnr serien GEORGE H. GEEIMAN, OF GARNER, IO'WA.

Biron-Dreams MACHINE.

Speccatiou of Letters Patent.

Patented JanZO, 1914.

'Application med may 1, 1913. serial no. 764,901.

T o all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE H.` GREIMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Garner, in the county of Hancock and State of Iowa, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Ditch-Digging Ma-' chines, of which the following is -a specification, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to newand useful Vimprovements in grading machines, and

. and adapted to cut theearth wider than said scoop.

Another object of this invention is the provision of novel means for adjusting the scoop and retaining it in its adjusted positions.

A still further object of this invention is to improve and simplify machines of this character, rendering them comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, reliabl and elicient in use, and readily operate lVith the above objects in View the inventionl consists of certainfnovel details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modifications may be made in the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in

I vwhioh- Figure l is a side elevation of a grading machine embodying the improvements of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof with parts omitted.,- Fig. 3 is a-detai view partly in section, of a lever hereinafter specically described. Fig. i is a detail view of a catch employed. Fig. 5 is a front elevation ofthe shovel, and, Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse sectional view thereof. l

l Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of reference designate similar parts, the ditching machine is shown to comprise a main frame including opposite side `members 10 and 11,'the frame being supported by the usual front and rear wheeled Iaxles 12 and 13. The front axle is pivotally connected inthe usual manner to the -:trame and 1S equipped with the usual steering mechanism 14.; A motor l5 is .mounted upon the frame and is operatively connected as at 16 to the rear axle for the purpose of driving the axle.' A pair of vertical b ars 17 are secured to the rear' ends of the .Side members 10 and are braced by inclined braces 18 which connect the upper ends of ,the bars to said side members.

i. The shovel frame is disposed to extend rearwardly from the main frameand comotally connected near their front ends'tothe' vertical bars 1'? by means of a pivot shaft/ 20. For rocking this frame in order to raise, or lower the shovel, cables- 21 are connectedf' prises opposite side bars 19 which are pivto the rear ends of the side bers' as at 22 and..

are trained over respective sheaves 23 carried at the'upper ends of the vertical bars 17, andare thence connected to awinding usual hand wheel 26 and ratchet27. By windinv the cables upon `the drum the rear se end of t e frame is rocked upwardly, and by unwinding the cables .the rear end of the' lframe is lowered:` i f A shaft 28 is journaled inbearings transversely of the shovel frame and hastimad thereony a ,drive pulley 29 and apinion 80. A belt 31 is trained over the engine pulley 32 and the drive pulley 29 `for thevpurpose of imparting rotary movement .tothe shaft 28. Thepinion 30 engages with a sprocket chain 33 that isprovided with a. pair of stops 34sand 85. This chain passes through slots formed in a lever 36 which is pivoted esta' shaft 37 that is disposed parallelito thielbe: fore mentioned shaft 28. The stops 34 .and

Ylos

3 5 are arrangedto alternately engagef'with the lever upon opposite'sides of the pivotl shaft 'whereby movement of thechainnis tained. l

A suitable reversing clutch 38 is employed lto rotate the shaft 28 in opposite directions thereby reversingthe movement of the chain' 30 ing over obstructions.

ivy means olrods 39 that engage with the lever above and below the pivot shaft and aetuatc aV Walking beam 4G which is operaa. tively connected vtoy the clutch shift lever 4l by means of rods 42, whereby the elutoh iviilbe reversed by tilting of the lever 36 through the' instrumentality 'of the stops 34 and v The lever is equipped at the upper l@ `end with a iveight43 which obviously7 servesy y ,to hold the lever in its desired position until such time as actuated toA another position.`

lhe lever is provided *with anti-friction rollers 44 journaled in the `slots of the lever .for engagement. with the chainl 33. 'A plulx-ality of hangers 45 depend in spaced relaj tion from opposite sides of the shovel-frame, and support a conveyer 46, which leads from the `center of the shovel frame to onev slde a() thereof. The conveyor is operated any suitable manner such as shown :1t-47;

pair of swinging shovel supporting bars 4S are pivoted, as at 49, to the side bars of the lshovel frame, and have pivoted to their lower lends a scoop shovel 50. Links 5l are 3o 48, the bipjht of the cable being trained over a sheave 57 carried on a shaftv jonrnaled in the extreme rear ends oi the side bars of the shovel frame. lt will be apparent that upon actuation of the shaft Q8 in one direc- 10 tion the shovel will be pulled forwardly by the lower end ot' the chain 33, and upon actuation of the shaft in the opposite direction the shovel ivill beA pulled rearwardly by the cable 55 attached to the upper end of the chain.

Spaccd guides 59 are attached to the 'torward cndz olithe shovel adjacent its upper edge. and shdably support opposite knife blades (30,ltliec1itting edges of which pro ject outwardly beyond the opposite sides of the shovel 4whereby the earth is out in :1d-

vance of the shovel to a `greater width than the width of the shovel. and thus allows the shovel to act freely 1n dipping' the soil. The

shanks of the blades are nivoted as at lll to the bars-418 above the pins 53, and as the shovel drawn rearwardly, the lower ends of these blades will, obviously, contact with the sarlat-e ol the ground at the outset of 6G the movement. the saine being" guided along the arms o l" the hail i54. These arms will, thrretore,. .he prevented 'from interfering with the Walls o'' the ditch and as the shovel is retain moved forwardly, into operative po- The ol'utoh is connected to the lever 36-` Losanna sition, said blades will return to their initial positions vagainst the guides 59. v

A scraper 62 of a shape corresponding to' the interior` of the shovel is slidably ied in thelatter andy serves to unload the'. irt

when the shovel arrives at the conveyorl 46.

67.. The pins 53 Whichfretain the links 51 on the bars 48 lextend inwardly from the latter and 'are adapted to *limit the rearward swinging movement of the bars 64, thus forming stops for the latter. l The position of the bars 64 at the time "the same contact with the pins 53, is such as to dispose the scraper 62 in. its `rearmostposition in the shovel to form a rear Wall or the like therefor. .Y

, For operating' the vscraper a catch 68' is pivoted on bracket arms 69 `carried by the upright bars 64 and is connected above its pivot to a rod 70 carried by the shovel supportino; bars 48 by means of a short cord 7l. tally belovT the shovel frame by means of bracket arms 73. As the bars 64 are carried forwardly by the loaded shovel; the catch 9 hooks over the rod 72 such engagement rtaking;l place aboutl the time the shovel has arrived at the conveyor and is about to be reti'irned to the ditch. As the shovel moves back the oord 7l tautens after the shovel has moved back sufficiently to enable the scraper which has momentarily been held stationary by the catcln to unload the shovel, and releases* the catch (38 from the rod 72 thereby permitting of the scraper being: carried back with the shovel int` the ditch.

The entering,Y dirt forces the scraper back until the links G5 Contact with the stops 66 whereby the scraper is held stationary in normal position at lthe rear end of thc shovel.

The shovel supporting'bars 48 may be adjusted to suit various conditions of service by means of selectively engagingl the piu* ots 49 in a series ol' bearings 74 and 75 formed iirthc shovel frame guide bars and shovel supporting f bars respectively as shown.

The' operation of the machine is as follows: The machine is propelled by means of the motor l5 to the desired loealitv, and the shovel 5) is arranged to engage with the ground at the rear oi? 'the machine. The sha-tt 38 is then actuated cause the shovel to be drawn foins/ard through. the earth,

There is a rod 72 suspended horizon lo 'the mite biadesll to a. greater vvidtic'tlian the Width 'of the shovel, as previouslvv described. a The' shovel is drawn forwardly until it passes from the earth and over-hangs the conveyor d6. The scraper now forces the load frm the 'shoveion to the conveyor which-'eebrries the load to one side ci the machine and there die charges it. The shovel is then returned to the ditch and the above operation automatically continued.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will 'ne seen that I haveprov'ided a machine for digging ditches or the like which will fulfil all the necessaryg requirements of such e device.

What is claimed, les

in 'a ditching machine, an oscillatable shovel, an oillstablelever, elements connected to said lever on opposite sides of its ivot and to said shovel andserving to oscilete said lever and to actuate said shovel, a driven shaft, a reverse clutch on said shaft, and meonsconnectingsaid clutch to said lever :tor reversing said clutch upon oscillation of said lever by said elements.

2. ln a ditching machine, a. driving shaft,

v'vhich isV out an oscillatalole shovel, an oscillatable lever,

a chain driven by said shaft and having con- 1 necti-on `at its opposite ends with the front and hach respectively oi said shovel, stops on said chain contectahle with said lever for oscillating the same, a clutch on said shaft, and means connecting saidolutch with said lever for reversing the direction ot-mcve ment of said chain upon shifting of said lever by said stops to either limit of its oscillatory movement.

3. In a ditching machine, the combination with a supporting frame, of bars iivoted thereto and extending substantially horizontally therefrom, a. shovel mounted to osoillate on said bars, knives pivoted'to said hars and slidahle relative to the shovel, and means for removing the contents of said shovel upon movement of the latter to a predetermined position.

4. In a ditching machine, the combination with a supporting frame, of substantially horizontal bars pivoted to said frame, means orraisinoand lowering said bars, a shovel mounted for oscillatory movement on seid hars, and .knives pivotally connected to seid hars and movahly mounted upon the advance end' ot said shovel and /disposed to cui'. the earth outside of and in advance ot said shovel. v

5. ln a dit/ching machine, the combination oft a Supporting frame, substantially horizontal bers pivoted to said frame, a shovel pivotaily connected to said bars, means for oscillating said hars, e scraper within said shovel, means Jfor securing said scraper forl simultaneous movement with said shovel,

end means for momentarily holding said scraper stationary during movement in one direction oi said shovel Whereoy'said scraper :forces the load from said shovel.

ti. ln a ditching machine, the combination with a. supporting trame, of hars pivoted to said frame, shovel pivoted to said bars, links connecting said shovel to said bars vwhereby said shovel may rise over obstructions, knives pivoted to seid bars and slidably engaging the advance edges of the sides of said shovel, a scraper Within said shovel, a second set of barssecured to said scraper, links pivotelly connecting together' the first and second named bars, and means for oscillating the lirst named bars.

7. ln ditching; machine, the combination with. a wheeled supporting frame, a' transverse conveyor mounted on said frame, horizontally extending hars pivoted on said frame, a shovel mounted to swing; on said 'oars toward and away i'rom said conveyor, knives pivoted to said hars and slidably engaging said shovel, a chain operatively connected to said shovel, means for actua-ting the chain to move the. shovel toward and away from said conveyor, a scraper Within said shovel, hars secured to said scraper, and a tripping mechanism between Said horizontally extending bars and saidscraper bars for momentarily holding said' scraper stationary during oscillatory movement of. said shovel in a rearWarddirecti-on, whereby the load is deposited upon said conveyor.

ln testimony whereof l hereunto am); my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

Witnesses:

' J. C. HAsTivos,

J. E. VVICHMAN. 

